Special Service and Features
Development of Indian Fisheries is a great boost for our Indian economy - Dr. L. Murugan, Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying
Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Fisheries Animal Husbandry and Dairying Dr. L. Murugan addresses at the Conference on Fisheries and investments on Fisheries sector would play a cruicial role in country’s economy in future via video conference.
The following is the text of address of Hon’ble Minister,
Ladies and gentlemen
At the beginning, I compliment the CII for this excellent initiative. Today Indian fisheries accounts for 8% of global share in Fish production. Development of Indian Fisheries is going to give a great boost for development of Indian economy. Investments made in this sector will go a long way to take Indian Fisheries to a great heights.
Our government has been consistently working in this direction since 2014. Development of Fisheries and Welfare of our 2.8 Crore Fishermen is our core objective. Under the visionary leadership of our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, India has made great strides in Fisheries. In the last seven years, Our government has made investments in fisheries , many times bigger, than the investments made till 2014. Schemes like Blue Revolution, Fisheries Infrastructure Development Fund  have been brought in , to unlock the tremendous potential of this sector. To make our efforts more focussed, a separate department of Fisheries has been formed in 2019, under the new Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.
Friends, Our Prime Minister’s message to all of us is Atmanirbhar Bharat. Under this motto, a Rs 20 thousand Crore scheme, Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana has been launched in year 2020. It aims , among others , to develop our fisheries sustainably , to improve the lives of our 2.8 Crore fishermen, and to leverage the spirit of entrepreneurship in our stakeholders.
The implementation of PMMSY calls for a great range of activities :Development of aquaculture and fishery related infrastructure, fish processing plants and fish product units, fish meal and fish seed developments, marine ranching and river ranching, marine and inland river landing centres, development of Fishing ports, and jetties, seaweed parks and ornamental fisheries, cold storages and ice plants, fish tourism and aqua sports development, fishery finances and insurance products, so on and so forth. Our entrepreneurs, our processors, our exporters, the financiers and bankers, all our stakeholders will find tremendous scope and opportunities in this sector in the next few years. The investments, and i strongly believe that, the returns on the investments too, will be huge.
Friends, we aim to increase our Fish Production to 220 lakh tonne by 2025, from 140 lakh tonne at present. And this can be achieved through both marine fisheries as well as inland fisheries and aquaculture. Use of Deep sea vessels, modern and efficient fishing techniques , chain of seamless cold chains, cold storage facilities , ice plants, fish processing units, fish product units and many others have been envisaged here.
In the last seven years, the share of inland fisheries and aquaculture in the total fish production is steadily rising. More than 70% of total fish comes from inland fisheries and aquaculture. India is globally ranked 2nd in aquaculture production, and ranked 1st in Shrimp production and exports. Use of modern technology along with rising entrepreneurship spirit of our young is showing the results. We will take it further ahead. New areas like saline and brackish waters, reservoirs, flood plains are being put to productive aquaculture use. ‘ Waste lands will be converted into wealth lands. Fishery infrastructure, landing centres , river ranching, fish seeding are being developed on our rivers like Ganga, Brahmaputra and others. Cold water fisheries , trout brooding centres and hatcheries in Himalayan States and North Eastern States are being developed.
While we aim to increase the production, the PMMSY equally focuses on increasing the per hectare productivity also. Optimal utilisation, ‘More crop per drop’ is our mantra . Technology infusion is the key. Young entrepreneurs are comming forward to set up Recirculatory aquaculture systems and Bio Floc units. This is in line with the spirit of, Start Up India , as envisioned by our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji. In the last week, we launched the Fisheries Start Up Grand Challenge 2021 under the leadership and guidance of our minister Shri Purushottam Rupala ji. I urge you all , and through you , the youth of our country to participate in this challenge, and come up with the solutions and products, to make it a grand success.
Dear friends, as the production and productivity increase, we need to look for market expansion. PMMSY aims to take our exports to Rs 1lakh crore. This brings in tremendous scope for our present and potential exporters . This also highlights the need to give best value to our consumers also. Develop Quality, hygiene, freshness, environment friendly practices as our strengths. Create and build ‘ Brand India’ around such factors and iconic species. Promote and popularise fish cuisines, and fish recipes, its nutritional benefits . Make best use of social media and other platforms to popularise this. Create and nurture new markets. Follow the path of Vocal for Local, and Local to Global. I firmly believe that you all can play an active role here. The role of the States, Banks , Insurance companies and FFPOs is also very critical
Finally, I must mention that welfare of our fishermen is the core of our focus. Hence, while we all aspire to take Indian Fisheries to new heights, our ultimate aim is to improve the lives of our 2.8 Crore fishermen, increase their income, improve their working conditions, safety and welfare, and increase their entrepreneurship ability and opportunities.
And that is why I commend CII for this conference today. I am told that a wide range of topics will be discussed in this conference . I am sure that many workable solutions will come out from this brainstorming.
I wish this event a grand success.
Together , We can.
Together , We will.
As our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji says: its a
‘ Sabka Sath , Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, and Sabka Prayas’ , that will lead us to reach our goal.
Thank you.
Jai Hind.